I ask this question with sincerity and I will answer with all honesty, trying to give an insight into one of the most serious aspects of becoming not only a professional player but a better player of any standing that you find yourself in.
| I am fortunate to have
started playing dart before the introduction of tungsten darts, I
feel quite sorry for you players who missed the brass dart era, it
was very special. OK I now have to explain, brass had and still does have a sense of feel like no other material used in the making of darts, you do not have to roughen the barrels, nor cover them in chalk to find that grip that will not allow the darts to slip in your hands, no, the make up and feel of brass always allows you to feel like the dart and you are one and yet at the point of release the brass dart will leave your hand in the smoothest of motions. Of course the past belongs where it is and sadly the brass dart belongs in that era, time and development waits for no one. |
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Vintage Unicorn Brass Darts |
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The era of
tungsten came along in 1970, Barry Twomlow had won the News of the
World Championship the previous year with a set of Unicorn brass
darts, Barry and Unicorn realised the importance of retaining the
weight of the darts and at the same time reducing the darts in
volume to allow greater visual sight of the highest scoring parts
of the dart board, in particular treble twenty and the bulls eye. The answer, Tungsten, three times the density of brass, the result, an identical set of darts to the brass darts chosen only half the size in width, the down side, the feel and grip that belonged to the brass dart had to be introduced via grooves, knurls and in some cases bucket fulls of chalk, all to find that feel that makes the dart as one with the player. The amount 180's increased instantly and players became to accept without question that Tungsten darts where the norm. |
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Twomlow and Lloyd |
Thankfully the brass dart look alike was introduced by Unicorn around 1990, the Titanium Tungsten Dart, a revolution in manufacturing.
I was amazed to witness the way Titanium is introduced to the Tungsten barrels.
Today just like yesterday, Unicorn Products became the first company to launch the next era of darts, the Titanium Tungsten Dart and guess what, they have the feel of the old and first era of darts, the brass dart.
If that feeling is substituted for a feeling of "I hope it goes in the twenty" then maybe you should consider the simple fact that you are using the wrong dart.
It may appear that there are hundreds of dart on the market, the fact is that there are only a few, the thin dart, the chubbier dart, the front loaded dart, the back loaded dart and the gimmick dart.
Weights of course come in many different groups, from as little as 12grams to 35grams, I try to explain weights to players in simple terms, a gram is equal in weight to a paper tissue, the player who plays more frequently needs a lighter dart to obtain a sense of feel, the player who competes on a one night a week darts league level needs a heavier dart, this eliminates the need to practice regularly, in simple terms the heavier the dart is (within a comfortable range) it will go to the board straighter than a lightweight dart which needs shall we say guidance.
The many hundreds of dart on display today are only different in looks and feel, the marketing of dart is very important, the better they look the more chance someone will buy them and believe me the better they look and feel works wonders for your confidence, I am very much a visual person when it comes to owning a set of darts, they are the tools of my trade and I feel fortunate when realising the stock of my trade (unlike many others, Skiing for example) will fit into my pocket.
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I like to be able to see my flight when the dart goes into the board, hence I use a coloured flight, black I find hides within the colour of the board and does not leave a visual target to aim at, I try very hard to keep all the dart from the barrel through the stem to the flight in a one tone colour, this gives me the sense of feeling that the dart is a one piece unit, four separate pieces of engineering and manufacturing that when assembled become one article, |
| so far because of the nature of the different materials used in the four components that go into producing the modern day dart it has been impossible to produce the same colour in all four components, in my case gold, maybe we are not to far away from that next step in the development of the dart. | |
I recommend that when you purchase the next set of darts you try out the feel, the texture, the thought of a smooth release without drag and of course consider the weight.
When you have purchased your darts do not be afraid to experiment with the various options open to you, smaller stems, different shape flights and of course the colour co ordination, do be careful when adding the many extra gimmicks, flight protectors etc. darts are meant to be balanced to hold their correct projectory, placing weight at the end of the flight can completely change this.
